


Of Things Unspoken (and how we speak them into existence)

by RoseintheWind



Series: Iwaoi Week 2020 [10]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Drunken Confessions, M/M, Pre-Time Skip, Underage Drinking, iwaoi week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:28:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27999006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseintheWind/pseuds/RoseintheWind
Summary: ~~Iwaoi Week Day 10 - Free Day: Drunken Confession~~Iwaizumi gets a call from the only person he knows would call him at such a late time. Later the distance between him and said person becomes a little bit smaller.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
Series: Iwaoi Week 2020 [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035180
Comments: 2
Kudos: 47





	Of Things Unspoken (and how we speak them into existence)

The phone beside him blares, screeching pulses invading his ears and disturbing his sleep. He can guess that only  _ one  _ person would call him at such a late time unless it was some kind of prank or spam. He half opens his eyes and fumbles around for his phone on his dresser, looking at the time blearily while doing so. 2:47. God, he should've known. It's a good thing they don't have school anymore.

Oikawa's called on a couple of occasions at the crack of dawn. Mostly to tease Iwaizumi, or ask him about something coming up that he forgot. Because he stays up, analyzing volleyball or doing procrastinated homework when they were still in school, Iwaizumi knows sometimes he'll even call because he can't sleep. He hopes today isn't one of those times.

He clicks the answer button without having to even look at the smudged picture of Oikawa that shows up as his contact information. 

"Shittykawa, it's three in the morning, what the hell could be so dire-He hears a sharp intake of breath from the other side. 

"Oikawa?"

"Mmm? Who's this?" Oikawa's overly flirty voice comes through the speaker. His words are slightly muffled, and there's a distinct slur in his voice. 

"Are you drunk?" Iwaizumi asks, incredulous. He's only ever seen Oikawa shitfaced three times in his life. He's specifically told Iwaizumi he hates drinking because it messes with the athletic track record he's trying to keep. 

''Am...am I...what?"

"Shittykawa, are you..." He groans into his pillow. "Do you know who you're talking to?"

Oikawa lets out a vulnerable giggle he knows Oikawa would never let opponents hear because of its soft nature. But he knows the other reason, the reason Oikawa doesn't want to admit is there, is that it's genuine. Iwaizumi's heartbeat spikes in his chest like someone plucked his veins like a guitar. 

"I know! I could never mistake...uhm...uh...oh no, this isn't someone I'm related to, right? I just picked up the phone, I needed someone to call..." He mutters the last part. "And I just...picked someone random! This isn't a relative, right? We're not related? You wouldn't lie to me, would you? That would be embarrassing. Soooo embarrassing..."

Iwaizumi snorts at Oikawa's dragged form of speech. "No, we're not related." 

"Hmm, I'm going to guess who's on the other line then! Is it..." Silence ranges throughout Iwaizumi's entire room, and he thinks Oikawa has said something too quiet for him to hear. He places his phone on speaker. It's still quiet. 

"Oikawa?"

"I can't think of anybody!" He announces like he's answered a tough question in math class. 

Iwaizumi sighs. "Why are you drunk?" 

"Nuh-uh mysterious voice-chan~ I'm not telling you anything!" 

"Then why call in the first place?"

"Because...well, I don't remember!" Iwaizumi frowns. He can tell Oikawa is too far-gone into being drunk and most likely won't be remembering the actions he's got no control over tonight. And yet, with almost zero cognitive ability, he's still able to lie through his damn pearly-white teeth. His answer was too fast, and even if Oikawa was trying to think about something, there was no way he'd instantly snap to an answer like that.  _ Especially  _ not when he hadn't been doing that their entire conversation. 

"Oikawa..." He growls. "I'm going to hang up if you don't want to talk to me. I have to sleep."

"Nonononononono! Please don't hang up! I can find something else for us to talk about!  _ Just please don't hang up _ ." Oikawa whispers into the speaker. 

Iwaizumi gulps at the sudden change in Oikawa's tone. Oikawa tries to  _ never  _ let himself be that vulnerable to  _ anyone.  _

"Okay." Iwaizumi complies, hoping it'll make Oikawa happier. "What do you want to talk about?"

He hears Oikawa take in a delighted gasp. "Thank you, mysterious voice-chan!" His delighted voice softens Iwaizumi's heart. "Hmm, do you like volleyball?"

Now Iwaizumi wants to burst out laughing. Both from who Oikawa's talking to and that the only thing he can think to talk about with a supposed complete stranger is if they like volleyball or not. 

He decides to hold in his laugh. "Yeah, I do." 

"Really?" Oikawa asks like he's never met another person who's liked volleyball in his life. 

"Yeah." Iwaizumi repeats.

"Okay, okay! I can work with this! So mysterious voice-chan, how  _ much  _ do you like volleyball?"

"Lots." Iwaizumi replies. "It's something that I've been doing for years. Something I want to continue with."

Oikawa, again, gasps in the same incredulous way as he'd been doing previously. "Me too! Wow, we have so much in common!"

"That's good."

"Yeah. So what do you want to do with volleyball?"

"Me? Well, I was thinking of studying overseas." He's told Oikawa this. Actually, Oikawa had been the one to incite it when -a few days after the last day of school for third year, only a couple months ago- he told Iwaizumi he wanted to go to Argentina. Now looking back, when they attended that game when they were younger, and Oikawa was enamoured enough to get a signature from their Argentine setter, he should've known that's where he'd pursue his career to new heights. Iwaizumi himself isn't one-hundred percent sure about his decision to just get up and move to a different country, but he knows it would be a good opportunity for education, a job, or otherwise. 

"Oh? I was thinking the same!" Oikawa chirps. 

"What are your thoughts on it?" He asks before berating himself. Oikawa called him for a reason, and how he's just telling him things about himself. "Actually, nevermind. Did you have a point you wanted to get at?"

He can hear Oikawa gape. "Wha-nevermind? Mysterious voice-chan that's not very fun! I wouldn't be a very good conversationalist, as I am known to be-" Iwaizumi rolls his eyes. "-If you didn't explain your problems either! C'mon, Oikawa-san can't fix your problems if you don't say them to him~" 

"Yes, Oikawa-san." Iwaizumi says dryly. Something in the back of his mind laughs at him for unconsciously indulging Oikawa because he's in love or whatever, and he promptly tells that voice to can it because love or not, he's worried about Oikawa and if this can get him to open up, he'd happily oblige. 

"Ah, perfect! Mysterious voice-chan, are you falling for my charms already?" 'Already' isn't quite the word he'd use to describe him falling in love with Oikawa. 

"Sure." He says again dryly to cut off Oikawa's nuanced advances. He clears his throat. "Are you planning on answering my question to help me?"

"Oh! Yes! Could you...uh...repeat that question again?" He asks sheepishly. Iwaizumi doesn't know why he's indulging the idiot.

He says the question in a tone clear and concise, not malicious to give Oikawa the idea that he's pissed (he's not), but also not to give the impression to him that it's been bothering him (this one's a little harder to convince himself out of). "What are your thoughts on moving? Just getting up, leaving your home country and everything in it behind?"

"Well, this opportunity in Argentina is big for me." Oikawa's voice gets surprisingly solemn. "I love Japan, I love  _ most  _ of the people from Japan, but it's not where I can stay, not for my career. I decided I needed a change, a change from the walls I couldn't overcome in Japan. I'm training under Argentina's setter, Jose Blanco. I think that this is what's best for me when I face the walls I can't overcome today, so they can turn into the same walls I overwhelm tomorrow." 

For Oikawa being drunk and spouting off what he'd think would be nonsense most of the time, his words never hesitated. This was Oikawa's true conviction, something he's probably been keeping in. He's glad Oikawa can tell him as such, even if it required a push. 

It makes him sick that one of the reasons Oikawa's decided to go so far away is because he thinks he couldn't stand up to his enemies. Iwaizumi wonders if that's what defeat is supposed to feel like, but when he thinks of moving, all he can feel is hope and the dawn of a new day. 

But something else sticks out in Oikawa's words. He wavered, ever so slightly on his last sentence. Not enough worry to think about changing his mind, but enough where something is bothering him. 

"Okay! I've spilled my guts! What were you thinking, mysterious voice-chan?" Oikawa interrupts before he can question Oikawa's worries. 

"I'm thinking of going to California. To study." He says simply. 

"Oh, really? I have a friend who wants to do the exact same! What a coincidence!"

"Yeah." Iwaizumi wants to laugh again and barely refrains himself from doing so. 

"Is that all?"

"Uh, pretty much." 

"Well, mysterious voice-chan, I can tell you should  _ definitely _ go for it!" His 'definitely' is strained. "It'll be a new opportunity, right? Just like me! Make sure to take lots of pictures in warm California! Oh, and make sure to send them to your best friend, so he knows you're doing well! Wouldn't want to worry him, right?" 

He feels like he's been slapped. "Oikawa...are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly  _ fine _ !" The 'fine' is also strained. 

"Are you going to...miss your best friend?" 

"Not-not at all! We're doing this for a reason! We're adults now! It was b-bound to happen, right?"

"Stop. Stop doing that."

"Stop d-doing what?"

"I know you're crying. Stop acting like you're okay. It's okay to cry, you know."

He hears Oikawa sniff over the speaker. "It's okay, m-mysterious voice-chan! You don't have to pity me."

"Fucking-I'm not pitying you, okay? I care! I'm on the other end of the line, right?" He realizes he's being too harsh on Oikawa and tones it down. "I'll listen. You can tell me what's wrong."

He can hear Oikawa take a shaky breath. "I'm going to miss Japan." Oikawa stays silent for a while. Iwaizumi doesn't blame him. He's leaving for a foreign country just all of a sudden? Of course he'd miss it. He decides to let Oikawa continue to speak. 

"But, I'm not going to miss places or family or anything. Well, no, that's not what I meant. I'm going to miss them, just not like I'm going to miss someone else."

If Iwaizumi was sitting on a seat, he'd be on the edge of it in anticipation. Oikawa continues. 

"They're just...really special..."

"Are you talking about one of your girlfriends? They might break up with you, but you've never seemed attached. I'm sure there's plenty of people for you to woo in Argentina."  _ Shit _ . He thinks. While the tone of his voice didn't sound mean, it was definitely a bitter thing to say. 

Oikawa lets out a choked laugh though anyway. "No, it's not one of my girlfriends. It's-it's-" 

Iwaizumi can tell his voice is getting too choked up, and the tears and snot are going to start to fall down his face and ruin his clothes, and he probably won't notice because he's too drunk to care. 

"I-do you  _ promise _ we're not related, mysterious voice-chan?"

"We're not related." Iwaizumi says in a single breath. 

"Okay," Oikawa says, small and takes a deep breath in. 

"I'm going to miss my best friend, a lot more than I thought." The words are broken tangents falling through the cracks in Oikawa's heart. Iwaizumi feels like his own heart now has been decimated with how fast it's beating. 

"B-because I've known him for so long, and h-he's been there for me my entire life! He's been there for me-for so much, for so-so long! And I thought it would be easy, and I have to leave b-but it's not!" Oikawa's almost shouting into the receiver. Iwaizumi jumps up and puts a proper pair of pants on. "He's my pillar, s-someone who's driven me for my entire life, and I'm just supposed to move on? I need to go, have to leave, but leaving him behind will be the hardest thing that I've ever done!" Iwaizumi's gotten fully dressed and is running down his old stairs in his house. As he clasps his keys and has his hand on the doorknob, he notices Oikawa's gone silent. 

Then, out of the hollowed silence and the dark of the night, he says a few simple words into the receiver. 

" _ I'm in love with him. _ "

Iwaizumi's heart clenches painfully, knowing Oikawa's crying and spilling out a confession he wanted to do but was sure he'd get shot down with the arrow of unreciprocated love. But he has to get to Oikawa, has to let him know that he's okay, that they'll be okay. 

As he's sprinting down his front steps, Oikawa says weakly, quietly, "Thanks for listening. I should go now." 

"Wait-Oikawa!" He tries to interrupt him, but Oikawa's already ended the call. He's never sure how Oikawa can be so incredible, be someone who acts like he has things together with a statement like the one he just spoke without wavering. How could he just cry his eyes out, confessing his love to him, a supposed absolute stranger, and say unwaveringly that  _ he had to go?  _ Oikawa is extraordinary, he's always known that, and as he slams his house door on accident, he's going to make sure Oikawa knows too. 

He sprints as fast as he can to Oikawa's house, only a block away and the silence filled streets and blacked-out houses reverberate with the sound of his squeaky runners against the pavement. 

He lands on Oikawa's doorstep, grabs the spare key the Oikawa's have allowed him access for whenever he wants from under the high stacks of newspapers in the mailbox. He jams in the key, promptly shuts the door, and places said key on the entrance table as he sprints up the stairs to Oikawa's room. 

Luckily, he knows the house is empty because Oikawa's parents would never let him drink at home. Said evidence of drinking is left scattered all over Oikawa's kitchen table, and he hopes Oikawa hasn't been drinking in his room lest he throws up.

Iwaizumi's ready to bust into the room, tell Oikawa that he's an idiot and that he loves him too, but when he approaches Oikawa on his bed, he doesn't move. His heart skips, worry flooding his systems. He makes his way to the faint light of his phone that dims with the phone call screen showing on it. Oikawa's eyes are skewed into peacefulness, and his open mouth drips drool down onto his pillow. 

Iwaizumi sighs in relief. 

Oikawa mutters something and shifts over the covers he's over. He starts to shake, presumably from being cold. Iwaizumi yanks the covers from underneath him, causing Oikawa to shift again but only bury himself within his body even more. He lays the covers over him, and Oikawa hums appreciatively. 

" _ Iwa-chan... _ " He mutters, and Iwaizumi freezes. His eyes seem to have been closed the entire time, and Iwaizumi wonders if Oikawa reached out unconsciously. 

He looks back to Oikawa, who seems to be perfectly comfortable, and gives him an easy smile that if Oikawa saw, he'd tease him for the rest of his life. 

Something else, however, comes to his attention just as he thinks about leaving. His eyes travel to Oikawa's adorable dishevelled hair and soft cheeks breathing in and out until his eyes trail up to Oikawa's own. He can faintly see through the crest of the moonlight on his red-rimmed, heavy, dark bags. Faint lines trail down his face, and small droplets sit at the bottom. Iwaizumi's throat clenches up again. 

He lightly runs his fingers down Oikawa's tears tracks, smudging them away. Oikawa shivers, but in a way he's sure is not from the cold. He carefully runs a hand through Oikawa's naturally soft hair and tucks a stray piece behind his ear. Oikawa gives a contempt sigh, and his face contorts to bear a soft smile. Iwaizumi gives him one last glance back as he carefully opens the door. Oikawa sleeps soundly, figure rising up and down in time with his easy breaths. 

As he's thinking of going home to his comfortable bed, he knows what a hangover is like, and there's no way in hell he'll let Oikawa wake up and break his house trying to find medication. 

Iwaizumi collapses on the Oikawa couch, more worried about Oikawa the next morning than the crink in his back. 

Iwaizumi always wakes up first. He used to always be the one to wait at Oikawa's doorstep every morning even though Seijoh was in the opposite direction. For Oikawa loving to make himself look "beautiful" every day, he's never been very good at waking up for it. 

Iwaizumi stretches all of his cramped muscles from the couch, pours Oikawa a glass of water, and grabs him an aspirin. 

"Ugh, this feels terrible..." He can hear Oikawa grumble as he goes to step down the stairs. That's something Iwaizumi's also found, that whenever he wakes up, Oikawa's soon to come around as well. 

"Why the hell did you decide to drink?" Iwaizumi asks rhetorically as he appears at the foot of Oikawa's stairs. 

Oikawa jumps a foot in the air when he sees Iwaizumi at the steps. "Iwa-chan?! What are you-" He coughs, his throat seemingly scratched. 

"Here." He hands Oikawa the aspirin and water. "Why were you drinking?" Oikawa sticks out his tongue. 

"I don't have to tell you anything! Why were you even at my house?"

He glares at Oikawa who, as always, is unaffected. "Because you called me, and I hope you weren't going to attempt those stairs because you would most definitely fall."

"I would not! I have great balance!" 

"You're hungover." Iwaizumi says flatly. 

"I'll take the compliment!" He gives Iwaizumi a peace sign. 

He sees Oikawa trying to move down the steps, and he sets down the aspirin and water down on the table as he walks up to Oikawa.

"I'm not letting you fall down the damn steps, dumbass. Come here."

Oikawa pouts. "Iwa-chan, I'm hungover, not disabled."

"And you want to risk doing something to your knee before Argentina?" Oikawa's face sours but lets Iwaizumi loop his arm around his waist and lead him down the stairs. Iwaizumi notices Oikawa's ears turn colour in his blush. He sets him down on one of Oikawa's plush kitchen chairs and pushes the medication and water towards him. 

Oikawa lets out a quiet "Thanks" and chugs it in one go. 

"Do you remember anything from last night?" He tries to keep it casual. 

Oikawa chuckles nervously. "Was I supposed to?" He gasps. "Is that why you're here? Because I told you that your terrible treatment of someone as great as me has caused me to move, and you want to win me back? That's so sweet of you, Iwa-chan, but I'm afraid it's too late!"

"You really don't remember... _ any  _ of it?" He disregards Oikawa's entire sentence.

Oikawa huffs. "Do I really need to be caught up?" He knew it. Oikawa's already starting to catch on. 

Iwaizumi runs a hand through his hair. "Oikawa..."

Oikawa clenches his hands together. "I really don't know what I said. It was probably not true anyway, Iwa-chan! Everyone knows you talk nonsense when you're drunk!" 

"Don't pull that on me. I know better than that. God...Oikawa...you're such an idiot!"

"I'm sorry," Oikawa whispers. He almost doesn't catch it. 

"What?"

"I said what I really thought about you to you, didn't I?" He only smiles bitterly, trying to repair a situation he believes is broken. "Please don't say anything. We can completely forget it when we move. Just please don't stop being friends with me, please, we can ignore it, I can move on."

Out of the rollercoaster of events that had happened the previous night, he didn't think Oikawa's simple sentences he just spoke in existence would be the ones to make his heart crush under the weight of both of their feelings.

"You think I'd hate you? For falling in love with me?" 

Oikawa still doesn't cry. He even makes eye contact while letting out a pained laugh. "Well, it sounds stupid when you put it like that."

"That's because it is stupid, dumbass." Oikawa's eyes widen, mouth opening in shock or protest. "Do you really think there's even a time where I hate you enough that I don't fall in love with you?"

A high pitched noise squeaks from Oikawa's throat as soon as he seems to register Iwaizumi's words, and red spreads from the tips of his ears and conjoins at the brink of his nose. "Iwa-chan, do you know what you're-"

"Yeah. And I can't believe you beat me to it." 

For as intelligent as Oikawa is, he seems like he can't process the very words Iwaizumi's feeding into his ears. Well, he guesses he can't blame him. 

Oikawa isn't sitting too far away from him, so he reaches out to cup his cheek in anticipation, to almost tell him: 'if you want to back away, you can'. Oikawa doesn't pull away. 

"Iwa-chan..." He says as softly as a rising sun. "Just know that it'll be hard...we won't always be around each other..." 

"We'll make it work, I promise. And when we don't, we'll always come back to each other."

Oikawa's big doe eyes look up at him, marvelling the words and lacing the promise to his heart. His lips lift to a smile, something so genuine that even if pawn shops asked, he'd never hand it over. 

Iwaizumi lifts his lips to Oikawa's, and Oikawa's rushes to meet him. While the kiss isn't flawless, Oikawa's hangover and Iwaizumi's inexperience clashing for the title of imperfect, it's nothing short of his entire world right in front of him. Oikawa presses in more, more desperate for something he probably through he could never have. But he still doesn't cry. Oikawa Tooru  _ never  _ cries, but Iwaizumi can tell he's overjoyed, and every action is tenfold that of tears of joy. 

"Please don't drink alcohol again. I don't want to handle you when you're like that." Iwaizumi says against his lips when they break apart. He'll never tell him it's because of his tears, tears he'd never have if he were in control of them. 

Oikawa pouts. "I think you're getting the wrong message, Iwa-chan. You're supposed to want to see me do more things like confess to you."

"Wouldn't that be more fun to do when you're sober?"

Oikawa quirks an eyebrow. "Why? Is there something you want me to say?"

He snorts. "No, but-"

"I love you, Hajime." Oikawa cuts in, too impatient to hear the rest of what he has to say.

"Yeah, me too." Is all Iwaizumi can say because he's breathless because Oikawa so simply just told him he's loved him in the blink of an eye. 

He's worried when Oikawa doesn't respond or make a facial cue, but soon his face molds to that same smile. 

Iwaizumi can at least say for sure seeing him with a smile is one-hundred percent better than seeing him in tears. 

**Author's Note:**

> Man, I can't believe that's it! I hope everyone who read all of it enjoyed the journey as much as I did, and if you're only reading this one or a few of my works, thanks for tuning in! I hope to see you all soon, which might be around Christmas break.
> 
> Ending endnotes :0   
> Twitter's @phoenixesse or tumblr @rosiey9 for updates and rebloggings/retweets of people's cool things because I can't do art :)


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